Gabrielle Papillon has been a pillar of pride and individuality for many moons now. Whether arts is engrained in your lifestyle or not, Papillon’s music is a surefire way to instill surety into oneself, and the award-winning Halifax artist – hailed as one of Canada’s finest songwriters – has done so again with her new music video for “New Age Faces,” from her latest album Shout.
Opting to employ her love of music and dance, Papillon’s rally for self-love in the face of a world that requires such hefty resolve is captured flawlessly in her charmingly-melodic voice and the striking, cobra-like movements of her surrounding dancers.
“I’d wanted to make a choreographed dance video for ages,” says Papillon. “It was my first love, and my first heartbreak, and with this song specifically dance was such a simple and beautiful way of conveying a message. You can be both vulnerable and powerful in dance. You can be an individual or part of a uniform group.”
“I loved the idea of having a group of dancers moving together, as though they were uniform, and then have those same dancers suddenly change in front of you, both in breaking off and dancing in whatever way they were moved to dance and in their appearance.”
Choreographed by Jerry Burchill, directed by Jeff Miller, and filmed at The Bus Stop Theatre, the video is a perfect addition to Shout, released in October 2019 and positively overflowing with the desire for people to live as their true selves.
“I made this record to share with the ones who are itching to bust out of their shells, of the boxes other people have fitted for them,” says Papillon. “For the awkward dancers, and the crowd-averse. For everyone who ever does anything brave even when it is hard.”
“We are complex and intricate and defined by so many things and the more people bravely define themselves on their own terms, the more we form an army of people who have one thing in common: we are uniquely ourselves.”